November 15, 2016. Los Angeles, Ca. A crowd of more than 5000 Angelinos gathered outside Los Angeles District office building for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to serve a letter calling for a halt to the Dakota Access Pipeline that threatens to pollute the water of the Standing Rock Sioux and others living downstream from their reservation.

Noting that Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein are the only Presidential candidates who have stood with the Standing Rock Sioux in their quest to protect waters rights and sacred burial grounds, Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon blasted out Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for their failure to do anything to help the water protectors. Sarandon has a long history of promoting human rights and the environmental protection. Many in the audience said they believed Sarandon would make a great 2020 Presidential candidate in her own right.

Susan Sarandon called on Americans to divest from banks paying for the DAPL pipeline. She also asked everyone to call the President and the Governor of North Dakota to stop the pipeline.

A small group of children and adults representing the Sioux were allowed to enter the lobby of the building housing the Los Angeles headquarters for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. There, they presented a letter to Reginald Seabrook of the Army Corps of Engineers. Seabrook accepted the letter and then came outside the building to observe the demonstration. Seabrook was very polite and appeared very supportive of water defenders.

This was one event out of a nationwide day of action in support of the Dakota Sanding Rock Sioux. Similar events took place in cities across America. California, itself, saw numerous actions similar to the one in downtown Los Angeles.

The demonstrators lined Wilshire Blvd, separated in the areas of driveways and streets by police and security. To the west, the demonstrators stretched along the overpass above the Interstate 110. Thousands of drivers honked support for the demonstrators along both the 110 and Wilshire Blvd. Later the demonstrators marched to Pershing Square where the rally continued.

Unlike the anti-Trump protests, the water protection demonstrations on November 15th were peaceful. Many of those present questioned whether the anti-Trump protests were being provoked and put together as part of an agenda. People kept saying that those protesting Trump are not Berners. It is relatively rare for progressives to carry firearms or to do violence or set fires. Craiglist ads for paid anti-Trump protesters were posted for Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and elsewhere. There is some speculation that the innocents among the anti-Trump protesters are being set up to be pawns as part of a false flag operation to make way for a new bill being promoted that would turn protesting into a hate crime. Reportedly, the majority of anti-Trump protesters did not even vote. There was also a concern that the anti-Trump protests are creating a distraction that is allowing DAPL to be completed and that the anti-Trump protests may be partially funded and promoted by the corporations expecting to profit from the pipeline.

As an interesting note, one dog came to the event, equipped with flyers announcing his candidacy for the Democratic Presidential nomination for 2020 and proclaiming he was more qualified than the last Democratic nominee. The dog (Cal) is running on an anti-war/pro-environment platform. He was very popular with the demonstrators, some of whom posed for pictures with him.

2016 Green Presidential candidate Jill Stein has been especially strong in her support of Standing Rock. She went there and was later charged for her participation. Also, charged were Amy Goodman, Shailene Woodley, Deia Schlosberg and hundreds of other peaceful observers and demonstrators.

The pipeline is nearing completion and only swift action to stop the pipeline will protect the water. Demonstrations in support of the Standing Rock Sioux took place around the world in solidarity with the U.S. demonstrations. Opposition to the DAPL pipeline is uniting people around the world. The United Nations inspectors have validated the concerns of those opposed to the pipeline. The question is whether Barack Obama will stand with America and the world and immediately put a halt to the pipeline.